I'm out of here!

I've just made a decision to abandon WordPress after spending 3 full days trying to get oriented - in the past months I've successfully used SquareSpace and ModX with quick results.

The whole experience with WordPress was brutal - the most unintuitive interface I've ever used - and getting answers on simple functions was suprisingly disappointing - in many cases, the answer on their support blog was "sorry, you can't do that in WordPress".

I'm moving on - a brutal, brutal experience - I recently did my research and concluded that the WordPress environment had more advantages than any other CMS - but the experience of trying to self-teach myself was a complete waste of time - there are many, many holes in their documentation.

After selling him on the WordPress concept, I've now got to tell my client next week that I cannot in good conscience recommend it as an easy-to-use CMS - I hope he's not pissed.

Although username accounts are not deleted, so you cannot be impersonated and have your reputation affected by anyone registering the same username in the future, there are steps you can take that amount to removing all personal information and result in leaving only a throwaway email address behind. http://en.support.wordpress.com/deleting-accounts/

I recognized your moniker immediately - the ONLY positive experience I had with WordPress were two very thorough, considerate replies I received from you several weeks ago when i was making posts under a different ID.

Hi again,
Tell that to Matt Mullenweg as I apparently lack the CSS editing skills (show us your chops!) to qualify for a job as a Happiness Engineer ... lol :D Thanks for your kind words about my Volunteer efforts, which are aimed at providing the best quality support that I can provide. Best wishes to you in all you do.

This is not about CSS - this is about information architecture (IA), user interface (UI) and my favorite - user experience concepts (UX).

I started out doing technical documentation in the late 80s and I still tell my clients upon my first meeting that my opinions should be taking seriously because I AM NOT at my core a technical person - I do not pound out code - I am a purveyor of cyber-sense and a marshal of cold facts - quick to synthesize relative hard values of different concepts and then reorder, shuffle and organize them into discrete categories.

I would compare my experience with WordPress to the experience of performing a best-practices UX review of a hosting company web site - tedious and demoralizing. The tone of many of the posts on your support blog reveal underlying attitudes of escalating frustration.

So, by all means pass along my responses to Matt - I would love to sink my teeth into a project like your's - here's my fight-to-death pledge: sit me down with a notepad and pen for 3 -5 days and I will meticulously document more real annoyances, points of confusion and bad subliminals than just about anyone else out there.

Here's what today's web site managers do not understand - a first time visit to a web site is a 3-strikes-and-your-out proposition, and the first strike is usually subliminal.

But if you'd like my help you'll have to pay me.

And oh yes, I liked you more with short hair - the subliminals imparted by your old photo were that of diligent worker-bee - the long hair in your photo here relegates you to a much lesser status - I will say no more.

I've been making that pitch for six, count 'em, SIX years and they still haven't accepted. For geeks who already know how it works, the documentation is adequate, and the documentation is written by geeks who already know how it works.

The man who wrote Dress for Success said that every aspect of a woman's appearance that could be considered attractive detracts from her perceived professional authority. He wrote that in the early Eighties. It's a shame the world seems not to have changed in the decades since.

For geeks who already know how it works, the documentation is adequate, and the documentation is written by geeks who already know how it works.

I agree. In the 6 years you and I have been here the software has become increasingly more sophisticated and complex and difficult to use. Providing support to confused new bloggers and even long time WordPress.com bloggers has become more challenging with every new WordPress version upgrade.

It's a shame the world seems not to have changed in the decades since.

We have not come a long way and I'm no one's baby since my mom died just a year ago now.

@fivecardstud
It's truly sad to hear that an avatar change to one commemorating 9 months of hair growth from pixie cut to a shaggy dog, relegates me to a much lesser status in your eyes. It hasn't diminished my status with my best friend, business partner and hubby a single iota. Moreover, I don't think it will change anything between us at all when I can sit on it again like I could when we first met.